Yes, I'm alive!

It's been awhile.

It's not that I haven't had time. Well, I really don't have time, but like I've said before I make time for blogging. It's hard enough trying to organize all the thoughts in my head right now, let alone get them out and on paper so to speak.

Anyhow, where did I leave off here? Well, the end of January saw another Big Fix. We fixed 224 animals this time -- an all-time record for us. I was at intake/discharge as usual with my trusty companions, A and T. What would I do without them? So that was January 29.

The pups and I had a snow day on February 4! The whole town shut down - roads, businesses, everything. I didn't have to go to work - yay! We had about an inch of snow in our backyard, and the dogs played in snow for the first time. It was too cute. Pretty sure we just cuddled on the couch all day.


Snow in Texas!

In other news, my husband got orders to...Hawaii. Nothing we ever expected or planned for. In fact, we thought it was out of the question for him. Apparently not. Anyway, I'm getting the dogs ready for the adventure of their lives. Everyone needs two rabies certificates, a working microchip, a rabies test, and a health certificate. This will be quite a time-consuming and costly process. But they're worth it, of course!

I was bitten pretty badly on Valentine's Day. Not by love, but by a dog while breaking up a big fight outside in the morning. I don't even know who bit me, but all the dogs were ok. There's no nerve damage and no infection, just really gnarly bruising. It looks awful. I called in sick that day, because it was so painful to walk.


OUCH!

Tyler has been pretty ill this week. His appetite is back now, and he's holding his food down. He never had a fever, so I'm not sure what was going on.

Benny is up for adoption and waiting for his forever home. I think Eddie, Clara, and Geneva are going to Hawaii. Suzy is waiting for her forever home; she is with a new foster now, and they love her to bits. Freddie is officially official in his new home. Tyler and Stan should be going to their forever homes in the next month or two.


Ben Rufflisberger AKA "Benny"

Wow, a lot happens in the space of a month...!

FML

Spectre in happier times


Spectre's wounds abscessed and started erupting sometime late Wednesday night, leading to major complications. By Thursday morning I knew she needed medical attention. We decided she would be stable enough until Friday morning when she could see our regular vet. I anxiously took her in at 8 am sharp when the clinic opened. She was put under this morning for a procedure to irrigate the wounds and pack them. She gets new packs daily for 3-5 days, then they will close the wounds and insert a drain. I imagine her final appointment will be to remove the drain. I feel horrible; this whole thing makes me sick. There was no way to know that the abscesses would occur. I'm not sure how long this process will take or how much it will cost. I hope she will have a swift recovery from here on out. :(

One of Those Days

Yesterday was "one of those days". Early in the morning I put all the dogs out, then brought them back inside and went to bed. When I woke up for good later, there were accidents everywhere.

Then I noticed there was a dead rat in the backyard. I didn't want the dogs fighting over it or bringing it inside, so I knew I had to dispose of it. I literally went out there four or five times over the course of two hours, and it freaked me out too much. I finally asked the neighbor to come get it. He quickly marched over behind me, scooped it up, and took it away in a bag. Thank goodness.

The afternoon brought the biggest upset. About six dogs were in the kitchen close together and a fight broke out. It was horrible. Freddie got a hold of Spectre and wouldn't let go. She was so frightened there was pee and poop flying everywhere - along with fur, saliva, and blood. Awful. I got bit when I was trying to help her. I had to separate all the dogs and then get things cleaned up while I let them calm down. They're going to have to be separated for awhile now. Sigh. From two shifts in the pup shuffle to four - all because of a fight. Grrr.

And now I think little Eddie is a little bit sick. :( He has a touch of a cough and coughed up a little phlegm/bile in his crate today. Hopefully it's nothing. I would love not to have sick and injured dogs at some point in this six months.

My Own Big Bad Dog Bite

I got bitten by one of our foster dogs on Wednesday night. Adam was introducing two dogs off-leash in the backyard. About five minutes into the introduction a fight broke out. I ran out to help. I tried to grab one of the dogs, but he didn't have a collar on making things harder. I tried to pull his back legs out from behind him, but he locked them up. Then Adam handed me the other dog by the collar (who was still being attacked). In his frightened state, he reached around and bit my right wrist. YEEEOUCH!

I cleaned it well and started taking antibiotics immediately. In terms of pain the first day was the worst; the pain made me nauseous. Sleeping was very uncomfortable for a couple nights. Thankfully I have not developed an infection, and it is feeling better every day.

From now on I'm using a broom or a hose to help break up a fight...!

Big Bad Dog Bite

Well, we thought it was about time to try putting Reina and Nala together again. Reina was previously labeled as extremely dog aggressive; she "did not get along with ANY dogs". After working with her and a trainer for a couple months last summer - and many visits with our dogs - she gets along with all of them except Nala. Because of this she cannot have free reign of the house; she lives separated by a baby gate in Adam's office.

I broke up a fight, or rather, an attack on Nala last summer and caught the brunt force of Reina's teeth on my left hand. I hesitated to go to the hospital, because of the repercussions for the animal. When it started to show signs of infection, we were off to the ER. The hospital filed a dog bite report, and we were contacted about quarantining Reina. Well, someone must have dropped the ball on that one, because no one ever followed through. We lucked out.

So like I was saying, we were giving it another go tonight with the girls. Not ten seconds into their little get-together Reina charged at Nala. Adam instinctively broke it up, but got bitten in the process. He has two wicked teeth marks in his left forearm. I could tell he was immediately in shock; all the while still holding the girls apart.

We immediately started contacting people for alternative ideas to going to the ER. If we go again this will be reported, and she already has a bite history. The possible outcomes would not be good. Of course I encouraged him to go, because his well-being comes first, but he is keeping it as a last resort.

SNIPSA's vet tech and office manager - I'll call her S - came through for us. Well, she and Dr. B. She went to Dr. B's house and had him write an antibiotic prescription for Adam. Keep in mind Dr. B is a vet. Haha. They understand where we're coming from and why we can't go to the hospital yet; they totally take care of us.

Yay for S, Dr. B, and Dr. S too, for that matter!